Category: Reflections

I read Patrick Leigh Fermor’s A Time to Keep Silence recently. It’s not my favorite, but it had some winning descriptions. He can be really naive and sometimes that’s endearing but other times it’s just grating. And right now, for some reason, I’m kind of put off by things that I know would be much … Continue reading “A Time to Keep Silence”

So basically my family told me to watch The Good Place while we were out at dinner last Tuesday, and I immediately proceeded to blow off my entire life to binge watch the entire first season because I loved it. It’s not brilliant in that high quality artsy way that usually gets me, like Utopia … Continue reading “Current Obsession: The Good Place”

I am a notorious evangelist for my favorite books and things. Whatever my favorite thing is, if you know me, you can be pretty sure I will be talking about it to you at a rate that will make you question my narrow avoidance of an autism diagnosis. I always have a current favorite thing, … Continue reading “The Summer Book”

I recently read The Narrow Waters by Julien Gracq, and it reminded me how much I’ve really struggled to put a visual to the way books studded with books, bedazzled with references and allusions, do the work they do. It’s like, instead of traversing an asteroid field of references that burn up as a lightshow … Continue reading “The Narrow Waters”

So, had you asked me what The Once and Future King was about before I recently re-read it I would have said animals. Most books, in my creative recollection, are about animals. Narnia? About animals. Alice In Wonderland? Clearly about animals. Julie Of the Wolves? That one might actually be about wolves. But…nope, Wikipedia is … Continue reading “The Once and Future King”

I recently read the wonderful Vincent and Theo by Deborah Heiligman and while I really did like the book, it left me wondering how much further this idea could have gone. It’s a wonderful book, but as an adult, I feel like you’d get more out of just reading Van Gogh’s letters. And as a teenager, … Continue reading “Vincent and Theo”

Back at the end of May, I decided to listen to every single Sherlock Holmes story in a row. I’m not sure why exactly that seemed like a good idea, because you can definitely get detective burnout, and I have 100% burned out on Sherlock Holmes. I think it’s been a good fifteen years since … Continue reading “All The Sherlock Holmes Is Done”

I recently read Shackleton: Antarctic Odyssey by Nick Bertozzi and, for the most part, I did like it. I’m really interested in historical fiction and non-fiction for younger readers right now, and the kind of mushy line between the two categories. This version of Shackleton’s journey was really plot-driven, and it had a lot of … Continue reading “Shackleton: Antarctic Odyssey”

I read The Daughter of Time while traveling so I couldn’t write a proper review of it, but now I’m home and I can write a very meandering reflection about it. I absolutely loved this book, and it brought up something really of interest to me, which is the question of why I find detective stories … Continue reading “The Daughter of Time”